The Harry Potter franchise has been created in such a thorough and detailed way that we often don’t have questions about its larger world. However, the Department of Mysteries, which appears in both the books and the films, leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
The Department of Mysteries is of course mysterious for a reason, but there are plenty of things that we’d love to know about this odd segment of the Ministry of Magic. Here are 10 questions we therefore have about this very secretive organization.
WHO CREATED IT?
It’s unclear who actually created this department. We know that early on many ministers used it to research Muggles, especially during the height of the British Empire. It’s unclear who’s idea it was to create it, though.
There’s also information that suggests the Department predates the Ministry of Magic itself. If this is true then it begs the question, who had the foresight to know that it would be a much-needed part of a larger organization?
IS IT NEEDED?
Since the rest of the Ministry has caught up in some ways, is this department really necessary? Perhaps it would be a lot easier to close the department completely and move its resources into different areas to carry on the same research.
It also seems like an incredibly dangerous place, one that should be more protected than it actually is. Perhaps putting all of the government’s secrets in one location isn’t the smartest idea.
HOW ARE STAFF CHOSEN?
The staff of the department are referred to as Unspeakables as they are unable to talk about their job. It’s clearly a very important role and one that certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly. But how are these employees actually chosen?
It would make sense to take them from high-performing areas of the Ministry, but then there could be a conflict of interest when working in secret against other departments. Perhaps like the British Secret Service, some are taken straight out of Hogwarts.
DO WE KNOW ANY UNSPEAKABLES?
Since those who work in the department aren’t allowed to speak about it, are there more people than we realize who work there? One of the main characters could also have a role in the Department of Mysteries, and we don’t even know it.
There are some top contenders, such as Kingsley or Mad Eye Moody, or perhaps even Tonks. However, there are plenty of other characters that might be a bit more surprising. Where does Molly Weasley spend a lot of her time, for instance?
WHY IS IT SEPARATE?
The organization is separate from the rest of the Ministry but we’ve never really been told why that is. Perhaps it’s to keep it from becoming a political football and to stop various ministers from involving themselves too heavily.
Another reason could be that there’s some corruption in the Ministry, and this would keep it from getting affected. However, we’re not completely sure, and this raises a lot of follow-up questions.
SHOULD IT BE IN THE MINISTRY?
If the department is in fact separate from everything else going on, why on earth is it still in the Ministry of Magic? Wouldn’t it make much more sense to have this as a completely separate building?
Sure, they may work alongside one another on occasion, but having it in a secretive location would be much more appropriate, and prevent a gaggle of Hogwarts kids from easily managing to access some of the closest held secrets in the country.
WHO HAS CONTROL?
Is there a leader of this department at all, and who actually chooses the leader? What’s more, who chooses the employees? There must be some kind of leadership structure for the day-to-day functioning of the department.
There are a lot of questions regarding the running of this place, and we don’t understand how it all fits together. Since the department never answers to the Minister for Magic, it really does beg the question, who does it answer to?
ARE THERE INTERNATIONAL BRANCHES?
Since this department is separate from everything else, are there international branches? Perhaps other countries have decided they want to set up their own version, or maybe there are various extensions of the original.
It would be odd if the hub for all of this was the British office. Considering the U.S. has a huge magical government and is on the other side of the world, at the very least they must have their own iteration of the department in order to keep up with those across the globe.
DO THEY KEEP IN CONTACT?
If there are all sorts of different branches of this organization, do they have some kind of conversation with each other about the intelligence they have gathered? We know that the general Ministry of Magic keeps in contact.
However, since is the Department of Mysteries is all about secrecy, perhaps they all keep to themselves and don’t share any of the discoveries that have been made. Perhaps for the development of the wizarding world it would be useful to swap notes.
WHO IS THE INFORMATION FOR?
If all this information is being collected, but not being shared internationally or being reported back to the Minister for Magic, what exactly is happening with all this information and who is it even designed to be for? There are a lot of mysteries here.
It’s almost as if this info is being collected for a purpose, but the purpose has never shown itself. In some ways, the department is completely useless as it’s not preparing the country for anything, but rather locking all its secrets away. This is perhaps a very dangerous method to take.
